But

How we test

Performance (70%) - calculated on: the heater’s ability to warm a room from 8°C to 13°C and from 8°C to 18°C; the evenness of the room heating; and the thermostat’s performance.

Ease of use (30%) - assessed equally on: using the controls, the labelling of controls, the heater’s mobility, cord storage, and ease of cleaning.

Performance
We test heaters in a special room fitted with 81 evenly placed temperature sensors. The temperature reading from the sensors enables us to create a 3-D map of the effect each heater has. We look at the time the units take to heat the room, the evenness of the room’s temperature, and how well the thermostats keep the room at an even temperature.

SafetyTilt test - while all heaters passed the standard’s requirement that they don’t topple over when inclined to 15° in any direction, any portable heater can be knocked over accidentally. So we put each heater on its side with the power on to see how long it took to turn off.

Drape test - we turned the heaters up to full temperature on full power and then draped a towel over each heater for 30 minutes. This test should trip the heater’s over-temperature safety switch.

Key data

Model

Type

Oscillating tower

Avg price

$230

Specifications

Heat-up time (minutes)

4.2

Weight (kg)

3.0

Maximum wattage

2200

Noise

52

Heat settings

1

Brand survey results

Brand reliability (%)

95

Brand satisfaction (%)

70

Features

Passed all safety tests

✔

Tilt switch

✔

Thermostat

✔

Timer

✔

Timer type

Digital

Fan

✔

Carry handles

✔

Cord storage

×

Connectivity

-

More Info

Notes

-

Availability

-

Member reviews

"Great heater"

29 Jul 2016,
Hazirah O.

Product use: 6 months or more

Pros:

There's a lot of control switches to choose from so I can get the right setting that I need. For example, you can choose mode 2, which is used if you need the room to be heated up more quickly in a shorter length of time. There's also an ECO button. this means the heater lays idle more frequently. I also like the fact that the heater can oscillate so can heat the room quicker & evenly.

Cons:

I really do love this product. So no.

Recommend it?

Yes, I recommend this product.

"great little heater"

11 Jun 2016,
Sharon H.

Product use: 1 - 3 months

Pros:

heats fast, timer so I always wake up to and come home to a warm home, easy to use

Cons:

none

Recommend it?

Yes, I recommend this product.

"Good heater for $160"

14 May 2016,
Neil B.

Product use: 6 months or more

Pros:

I got one of these from Noel Leeming for $160.

It heats up my large office in just a few minutes, then I can turn it off, or have it on a very low setting.

I used an oil heater previously which takes a long time to heat up, had poor heat dissipation and must have been overall more expensive to run.

Probably these fan heaters are most economical in rooms where you can close doors and the room will retain the heat better.

Cons:

It's quite noisy, so fortunate I don't need it switched on much.

Because it is noisy the cold fan mode is not so useful, because you would normally want the cold fan on continuously.

Recommend it?

Yes, I recommend this product.

"DeLonghi TCH7092 electronic"

11 Jun 2015,
Merlin

Product use: 1 month or less

Pros:

Seems well made. Digital thermostat setting which seems reasonably accurate, and fan-only mode for summer use. Tower form is essential for me with limited space in a tiny office. Unit is angled back slightly so the airstream goes higher than you might expect. Chose this over the similar Goldair Platinum GPCT440 because fan noise was less irritating in a confined space - Goldair fan sounded unbalanced and consequently had an annoying beat.

Cons:

Manufacturer should not be using polystyrene in packaging, it's unnecessary and unacceptable. Would be nicer if the thermostat would show you the current room temperature - the Goldair did that.